


Just Like the Ninetales

by kayura_sanada



Category: Enchanted Arms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Childhood Friends, Falling In Love, Friends to Lovers, Gym Leaders AU, Happy Ending, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative, Pokemon, Reunion, Rivalry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-11
Updated: 2021-02-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:55:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29350041
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kayura_sanada/pseuds/kayura_sanada
Summary: Toya was Yokohama City’s Ice Gym Leader. Atsuma was its Fire Gym Leader. Everyone thought they couldn’t be more disparate people. They were wrong.
Relationships: Atsuma/Toya (Enchanted Arms)
Kudos: 1





	Just Like the Ninetales

The kid’s head drooped to his chin. His shoulders hunched. Toya bit back the urge to step down from the dais and place a hand on the kid’s shoulder. No one would want that sort of response from a rival after they’d lost. Instead he dipped his head a bit and smiled. “Your pokémon are strong. You’re training them well. I expect to face you again soon.”

The boy looked up, his eyes widening as he took in Toya’s words. To come to face Toya, he must have wracked up a lot of courage. Yokohama City was recognized as a city for the elites. Coming here was often the last stop before returning to face the Elite Four. In preparation for kids like this one, he’d needed to carefully balance his own pokémon, keeping them right in-between powerful and vulnerable.

Slowly, the kid’s shoulders fell, to be replaced with a smile. “That’s what he said, too.”

Toya stilled. “He?”

The kid rubbed a hand through his hair. “Yeah. He said if I couldn’t beat him, I shouldn’t come challenging you. Guess I should’ve listened.”

Toya grinned sadly. Atsuma. “He underestimates his own abilities.”

The kid – Charles, he remembered – actually laughed. It was loud and brash and infectious. Not unlike Atsuma’s. The two had likely gotten along well when they’d dueled. “Yeah, probably! I didn’t stand a chance against him, either, even though I had my Dugong with me! You’re both really strong!”

Toya watched as the kid waved and left, jogging back the way he’d come, likely eager to get his pokémon healed. As soon as the kid was out of hearing range, Makoto moved to his side and planted his hands on his hips. “How dare he!” he said, his voice shrill in his anger. “Comparing you to Atsuma! When will these people learn?”

Toya looked down at the pokéball he still held in his hand. Atsuma. His fingers gripped the pokéball so tight the shell crackled beneath the pressure. Atsuma. He missed him. But what had happened between them… it had been his decision. His fault.

“…Toya?”

He took a deep breath and looked back up. His gym was one of Ice, true, but it was all orchestrated. The icy paths were in fact strengthened glass, stable enough to handle five grown men bouncing on the same space without breaking. The glaciers were the same, but with a middle coated in ice-blue paint to keep anyone from seeing which direction to go next. He heard his trainers moving around, going to the rest center in the back of the gym to give their pokémon some rest. He should do the same. He turned to his right, away from Makoto and toward his Ninetales. “Come on, Chione,” he said, his voice quiet. Chione gave a tiny trill and moved to his side, nuzzling his face. His Chione was too powerful to be allowed in a gym duel, and so she remained unharmed.

“Hey! Wait for me!” Makoto ran over and grabbed his arm. “Getting some lunch? Congratulations on keeping your appetite after that conversation.”

He sighed, but didn’t bother responding. He’d learned long ago that people would never understand.

Atsuma, he thought as he stepped away from his dais and made for the private rooms at the back of the building. He hoped his old friend was doing well.

* * *

Toya sat at the front of the class, right in the middle of the room, waiting for the teacher to start the lecture for the day. He opened his notebook. The first page was sparse; so far, everything the teacher had gone over was fairly simple. Around him, other children had clumped together, already in groups of friends despite it being only the second day. Beside him, a white-haired kid plunked down his books and turned to the two boys standing beside him. “Well, my fire type will whoop your water-type’s butt, anyway! I’d make it paralyze the enemy or something!”

He was nearly vibrating energy; Toya didn’t know what the conversation had started as, but it had turned nearly into a fight. “Fire types can’t learn paralyze moves, moron,” one of the two boys jeered.

The white-haired boy lifted his chin. “I can teach them!”

“No, you can’t,” the other boy said. “You’re an idiot.”

Atsuma slammed his hand on the desk. Toya jumped, his body tensing, ready to flee. Then he saw the way the little first on the table shook. He looked down at his desk. “Some Fire-types can learn abilities that have the chance to paralyze,” Toya said. The three boys turned to him. Something lit in the white-haired boy’s eyes. They were odd, he noticed. Heterochromatic. One was green, the other a bright violet. “Like Body Slam or Bounce, or even Lick. Even some pure fire types can learn those moves, and they have a chance of paralyzing. Charmander and its evolutions can also learn Dragon Breath, which also has a chance at paralyzing.”

The boy’s smile grew until it encompassed nearly his entire face. “Yeah!” He pointed at Toya. “So I _can_ do it! See?”

“Only with a few fire pokémon, though,” Toya said, but he was already being ignored. He sighed.

“So?” The boy leaning over the heterochromatically eyed kid leered. “Other pokémon are way stronger. All fire types is stupid. And anyone who backs you up has to be stupid, too.”

“Hey! That guy knew moves and their strengths and what pokémon could learn them off the top of his head!” Toya’s brow lifted at the white-haired kid’s words. No defense against the attack on fire pokémon? “He’s crazy smart! You don’t know anything!”

Toya looked at him again. The boy’s chest was puffed out. He hid his smile behind his hand. He hadn’t expected that. “Wanna sit by me?” he asked, and the white-haired kid’s eyes widened. That grin returned.

“Sure!”

* * *

“I know my starter,” Atsuma said as he sat beside Toya. Neither had brought their textbooks. There was no point. They were graduating today. Tomorrow, they would begin their journeys.

Toya looked Atsuma over; he’d grown a little since he’d last seen him, but he still looked largely the same. Same hairstyle, same heterochromatic eyes, same infectious, confident smile. Toya returned the gesture. “Oh?”

“Yeah.” Atsuma nodded seriously, then laughed and scratched the back of his head. “Well, it’s not really ‘decided.’ I knew from the start.”

“Ninetales.” Toya said the name quietly.

“Yeah. Well, not at first, obviously. But yeah. A vulpix.”

They stared at each other for a long time. “This,” Toya said, then hesitated. He didn’t want to insult someone who’d become so important to him. “Doesn’t have anything to do with–”

Atsuma laughed, cutting Toya off before he could finish his sentence. “No, dude,” he said, waving Toya’s words off. “It doesn’t have anything to do with _your_ vulpix. Though I’m still stoked to learn there are different forms of pokémon.”

Toya nodded, almost limp with relief. His vulpix sat at his side, watching the two of them converse with wide eyes. She leaned against his leg, making him shiver. “I’m glad. I don’t want to influence your choices.”

Atsuma just laughed again. “If you could do that, then I would be gathering ice types, too!” Atsuma leaned over and clapped him on the back. His smile turned warm, burning away the cold. “I chose her because she’s what I want, Toya, same as you. The breeder in the town over has a little baby, a runt. Everyone grabbed all the stronger pups, but I’m gonna take her. She’s…” Atsuma leaned back, crossed his arms, and sighed. “She’s so friendly, and hopeful, and beautiful. She deserves to have someone recognize how amazing she is.”

Toya couldn’t help the warm grin that bubbled up in response. He could understand; the instant he’d laid eyes on his Chione, he’d been a goner. She’d looked at him with those big eyes and a quiet, placid yip, and he’d fallen to his knees and hugged her tight. Atsuma, who had agreed to go with him to pick her up when his father landed at the airport, had laughed at him at first, but he’d leaned down and hugged them both, sniffling almost as much as Toya. Both of them understood what it meant to love their pokémon so much it hurt.

They were older now, too old to fall into a fit of crying just because they found their partner. But Toya could see it in Atsuma’s eyes, how much he already loved his friend. “Did you give her a name?”

“Miho.”

Toya wrinkled his nose at the pun, but if he ignored it, ‘beautiful fire’ was certainly a gorgeous name and seemed to suit the stars in Atsuma’s eyes. “May I meet her?”

“I _insist_ you meet her.”

Toya was about to ask more about her, perhaps about the breeder or what Atsuma’s plans were, since all he’d gotten so far was ‘go out, find fire types, profit,’ but Makoto breezed into the room, and the conversation turned into who Makoto was thinking of choosing – Makoto was interested in beauty more than anything else, and was excited to collect a bunch of attractive pokémon and become a master with those. He was torn over which to try to grab first, only to start complaining about Feebas again. Atsuma rolled his eyes and plugged his ears so that, by the time their teacher entered the room, the two had devolved into an argument again. Toya sighed.

* * *

Charles returned over two weeks later, and this time, he barely scraped out a win.

Charles cheered, jumping up and down and clapping his hands against his Salazzle’s. The pokémon had grown incredibly in the days since he’d last seen them. They must have trained incredibly hard for this day. “You’ve done well,” he said.

Charles laughed and rubbed his nose. “Yeah! Thanks!” Charles leaned forward and accepted the badge Toya bestowed upon him, listening in rapt attention as he spoke his usual spiel. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a TM, one he always carried a couple of just in case. As he explained what it did, Charles’ eyes widened. “Wow. That would have helped _so much_ against Atsuma!”

Toya couldn’t help the quirk of his lips. “I originally got this TM for exactly that.”

Charles gasped, just as Toya had expected. “That’s so cool! I’d heard you guys were huge rivals. That you don’t even talk to each other or anything, even though you both went on your journeys at the same time.”

Toya’s smile slipped away. “Rivals, huh?”

Charles nodded, still clutching his newest badge tight. His fingers drifted over its surface as if trying to memorize the feel. “Yup. I heard you always beat him. He even said he was super weak compared to you.”

“Underestimating himself again,” Toya said, shaking his head. “He’s strong. A trainer I hold in very high esteem.”

Charles grinned to split his face. “I heard the two of you even duked it out once over Yokohama. That you guys fought each other in one of the Elite Four rings after having just beaten the old champions!”

Toya tensed.

“Hey!”

Makoto stomped up from behind the nearest glacier, glaring at the kid like he was a bug on his shoe. Charles backed quickly away. “What are you doing, still comparing Toya to that idiot? He’s a campfire trying to melt a mountain! No way are they rivals!”

Charles’ brows drew low quickly, so quickly it made Toya’s own rise. “Hey! Atsuma was a hard fight! I lost to him countless times! He’s plenty strong! Not like you! I beat you easy on day one!”

Makoto sputtered. “What?! Excuse you, you brat!” He raised a fist. Charles stuck out his tongue. “Oh, yeah? See how you like this!”

“Makoto, don–” Toya started, but Makoto was already chasing the kid out of the room. He sighed. There was no point in mentioning how Makoto had only spoken up because of Toya’s obvious discomfort, or mentioning how Charles was only defending a rival he respected (a rival who deserved said respect, as well, something he would need to remind Makoto of later), or that Makoto was only weak because he was using pokémon he wasn’t strong with in order to remain with Toya, for reasons Toya honestly couldn’t fully understand. Makoto preferred gorgeous and powerful pokémon, so he rarely trained with the Jynx and Mr. Rime he kept in order to battle in Toya’s gym. Why he didn’t go to work elsewhere, or even set up his own gym somewhere else, was a mystery to him. He was oddly grateful, though. For all that Makoto upset or annoyed him sometimes, it was nice to have a friend near.

He left his dais again, feeling more exhausted than ever before. If he went to the back room now, he would do nothing but stare at a wall and feel sorry for himself. Without really thinking about it, he turned instead for the back exit.

He loved Yokohama City, so much so that he had given up other things he had loved. Sometimes it helped to remind himself of what he still had.

* * *

“Atsuma!”

Atsuma turned from his way to the town’s Pokémon center, his young eyes widening at the sight of Toya leaving the gym. “Toya!” He ran up, Miho prancing along behind him, and hugged Toya with all the exuberance Toya had been missing these past couple of months. “Toya!” he said again, right in Toya’s ear. He bounced up and down, even as he continued holding Toya in place. He winced. All right, maybe he hadn’t missed _all_ this exuberance. He took a deep gulp of air the instant Atsuma let him go. “How are you? Oh, Chione, you’re beautiful as always.”

Toya’s vulpix twirled, only to lower her head and flutter her eyes at Miho. Miho trilled and put its front paws low on the ground, wriggling its tush in the air. Chione quickly mirrored the move. Atsuma laughed. “Go on, then,” he said, and Miho wasted no time dancing around Chione and pulling her into a scuffle.

“Be careful,” Toya called out. “You’re still a little tired from our fight just now. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

Chione ignored him. She always did when with Miho.

Atsuma just laughed at the two pokémon’s willful disobedience. “Did you have a rough time?” Atsuma asked. His voice wasn’t filled with gloating or jealousy, but with that soft confidence that said he didn’t think Toya had at all. It made it easier for Toya to tell the truth.

“Not really.”

Atsuma laughed and clapped him on the shoulder. “That’s what I thought. You and Chione, along with your Snom and Sneasel can handle almost anything.”

Toya couldn’t help but smile. His pokémon had managed to beat Atsuma in the previous town, and Atsuma had done nothing but shout praises at both of their pokémon. It was just like Atsuma to once again extol his pokémon’s skills. “Yours will do fine, as well,” he said. Atsuma grinned from ear to ear despite the poor praise.

“Heck, yeah! Miho’s gotten way stronger, and Fletchinder has evolved. Stick around, and I’ll show him to you.”

Toya nodded. He would love to meet with Fletchinder now that he’s grown, and to see Chimchar again before he inevitably evolved, as well. Atsuma was in a rough spot with his pokémon for the moment, with two pure fire types and one half-Flying. He was strengthening his pokémon as much as possible to overcome such a weakness, and pushing them, and himself, to their limits. It was why he was lagging slightly behind Toya, but it was also why he would succeed here today, and eventually become a rival Toya would eventually lose to, with his Ice pokémon. If he hadn’t taught Chione Dig…

Chione and Miho yipped at each other, rolling in the roadside dirt without a care for their looks and exhaustion.

“Want to head to the center with me?” Atsuma asked, pointing behind him, toward the town. Toya smiled.

“Yeah,” he said. He turned to Chione. “Come on. You can keep playing later. Both of you are tired. Do you want to accidentally hurt each other?”

Chione pouted, bending to lick Miho’s face before trotting after him as he made to leave. Atsuma laughed. “You really have a way with them. Come on, Miho!”

Miho raced after them, jumping up to bump her head against Atsuma’s hand. Atsuma’s laugh was delighted. It made Toya relax enough that, when Atsuma wrapped an arm around his shoulders, he was comfortable enough to do the same.

* * *

“I can’t believe it,” Atsuma breathed. His pokémon gathered around him, yipping and shouting in celebration as he placed the last badge in his case. He stared at them all. All eight. He had even defeated the old Fire gym leader, well enough that the man had asked if Atsuma wanted to take over once he completed his journey.

He did, he’d told the old man. But not here. He had a home back in Yokohama, and he intended to set up there.

That was how he’d learned that Toya had come through just a few days earlier, and he had basically answered with the exact same thing.

Atsuma looked to Miho, her nine tails wrapped beautifully around her feet. “Toya wants to set up in Yokohama, too,” he said. “Two Gym Leaders in one city could be a problem, but I want to do it. You in?”

Miho chirped and stood, leaning down so her front paws were on the ground.

Atsuma smiled. “Yeah. Me, too.”

Atsuma smiled, carefully closing the Badge case and ushering his pokémon back into their balls so he could take them all to the Pokémon Center. Both he and Toya had made it. They would be taking on the Elite Four, facing the very last obstacles they could. And then they would be taking whatever place they got in the tournament with them back to Yokohama to set themselves up as Gym Leaders in their own rights.

Just making it to the Elite Four was a big deal. A huge deal! If he could defeat them – even just a couple of them, but if he beat them all – he would be able to be a Gym Leader for sure! He jumped up and down, hugging the Badge case to his chest. Miho jumped right alongside him, tails flowing wildly as she pranced.

They were getting there. They were almost there! Even better, Toya had made it, too. Atsuma had to congratulate him when he finally saw Toya again. Their dreams, the ones they’d fought for since they were kids, were finally about to come true.

* * *

Each street of whitewashed cobblestone wound a path along the ocean the stretched the horizon into an endless swatch of blue. Brickwork buildings offered long, wide windows, all for the comfort of the sight of the sea. The smell covered every stretch of the place. Shrubs and plants dotting the sidewalks called to the smaller birds as Wingulls screamed overhead.

Toya loved his home. He never felt as at peace anywhere else.

Chione trilled, bouncing around as people called out salutations to them both. He waved back to several of them before peeling away. The crowds were bustling in the mid-afternoon sunlight, with the smells of cakes and breads trying to overpower the ever-present smell of the sea. He stared at the goods in the stalls and exchanged pleasantries with a council member on their way to grab groceries for dinner.

Without thinking about it, his footsteps eventually turned him toward the training school.

After so many years and so much success, the school had expanded. It now accepted students from all over the region, its name known far and wide for churning out pokémon masters and expert gym leaders. Its tallest building now soared high enough that its snow white form cut into the horizon line like a lighthouse.

The building also sat furthest from the shore, out on the edges of the town that sat on the water, not the land. The waves lapped around the walkways. If one leaned over the railings, one could sometimes see fish darting about beneath the depths of the water. Chione searched for them as he moved to the windows of the school.

By this time, all of the students had left for the days. A few teachers would remain, planning the next day’s lessons or checking over student papers. He stared through one darkened window to the room inside – the chalkboard on the wall by the teacher’s desk, the rows of seats for the students all lined up to face the board. He remembered sitting there in the front, his gaze poring over books well past closing hour. He remembered Atsuma’s hands as they wrapped around his wrist and dragged him away, feigning eminent death by boredom if they remained much longer.

He touched the glass, smearing it. Who he’d been back then… driven, focused, but also very, very happy. He wondered sometimes if he could have that happiness again. Probably not.

If he could go back, what choice would he make?

Chione trilled suddenly, so loudly Toya jumped. He turned to his Ninetales with one hand on his belt, ready to have to beat up Team Rocket or Team Skull for the first time in years.

Instead, Chione danced around, her fluffy tails swirling around herself, before she jumped behind him.

And from behind, he heard another similar trill.

Toya froze.

Slowly, as if thawing from some icy state, he turned. He’d grown again. His hair was the same wild, unkempt mess as before, but he’d grown to nearly Toya’s height and doubled in muscle tone. He store wore red. Toya’s breath left him in a rush.

“Atsuma,” he breathed, and felt his lungs constrict.

Chione, heedless of his turmoil, pranced around Miho as if they’d never fought. She yipped by Miho’s ear, rubbed the fox’s cheek, and finally bent down on all fours as if to play. Miho whined, its ears flicking back as it stood loyally by Atsuma’s side. Toya’s chest felt like ice. Chione’s wriggling butt stilled as it took in Miho’s reaction. Chione deflated.

Atsuma patted Miho on the head. “Go on,” he said, his smile so wide it had to be fake. “She wants to be with you. Don’t you want to be with her, too?”

Miho whined again, pushing into Atsuma’s hand. Toya saw it tremble before Atsuma pushed lightly behind Miho’s ears.

“Go play. She’s your precious person, isn’t she?”

Chione’s ears perked up at that.

Atsuma turned to Toya. “That’s all right, isn’t it?”

Toya’s tongue wrapped around itself and got stuck in his throat. He could only nod dumbly. Chione nearly howled with joy. A teacher left the building, turning an unimpressed look their way until they noticed the two Ninetales bending on their front paws, readying for a game. They left with a small smile.

Precious person, Toya heard. The words spun round and round and round his head. Precious person. Precious person.

He looked up into Atsuma’s eyes as Chione pounced on Miho and rolled them both to the side of the school.

Precious person.

* * *

_He’d done it!_

He couldn’t believe it. He’d done it. Battle after battle, he’d wormed his way up to the Elite Four, and then, one by one, he’d defeated them! It had been tough. Even Miho had needed to be rushed to the Pokémon Center at the Elite’s arena, exhausted more than once by her battles. But they’d done it. He stood at the Center, getting his pokémon healed after the last battle, his head so heady with excitement he thought he might spout gibberish if he opened his mouth to speak.

He received his pokémon back, all of them back to perfect health. He thanked the nurse and moved on shaky legs toward the exit.

“Atsuma.”

He turned. His eyes widened. He grinned fit to split his face. “Toya!”

He ran up to his friend, crushing him into a hug before Toya could do more than open his mouth to continue speaking. Instead of words, all Toya managed was an, “oomph.”

Atsuma laughed into his ear. “You made it, too! Right, of course you did, you’re incredible!” He leaned back, still holding Toya’s shoulders. Somewhere in the past couple of years of travel, Toya had started growing. Atsuma, too, actually. But Toya was looking pretty good. He’d changed outfits, really gone for the whole Ice blue thing. Well, Atsuma had gotten a red coat, so they were both embracing their elements. “You beat them, too, didn’t you? If I did, you definitely did. Congratulations!”

For a moment, he thought he saw Toya smile. Then he stiffened up worse than usual. Behind him, Chione slunk forward, her head down low. Atsuma’s jaw dropped.

“It can’t be,” he breathed. His heart pounded. His words had been so insensitive. He sucked in a quick breath. “It doesn’t matter!” he said, squeezing Toya’s shoulders. He let himself be serious for once. “You’re still the best trainer I know. You’ll be an amazing Gym Leader! Who cares if you beat those guys? They’re nothing compared to you! Next year, you’ll definitely–”

“I won, Atsuma.”

Atsuma stopped mid-tirade, his jaw flapping all over again. “Then… then why do you look like you’ve lost?”

Toya looked to Chione, who gave a short, sad chirp. Toya’s lips thinned. “Stand with me, Chione,” he said. The Ninetales lifted its head, cooed again, and finally stood tall. Atsuma looked between the two of them, his mind racing. Were they… sick? Was something wrong? Had something happened? He was about to ask when Toya picked out a pokéball from his belt and held it out. “We’re dueling, Atsuma.”

His brows furrowed. If they were sick, then was that really the best option? “I… all right?” He looked to Miho. Her ears were back, her gaze trapped on Chione. Without another word, Toya headed toward the battle arenas. Atsuma tagged along behind him, his heart thumping its way into his throat. “I don’t understand,” he said. Toya didn’t respond. “Are you all right? We’ve battled plenty of times before, and it’s never–”

“This is different, Atsuma.”

The way Toya said it made him stop cold. It wasn’t friendly. It wasn’t with a spirit of challenge or determination. Now that he thought about it, he’d always been the one to instigate the battles, hadn’t he? Toya had always agreed, but he had never asked for them.

“Go to your side of the arena.”

Atsuma looked around. The Elite Four no longer stood before him. This was one of the Elite’s rooms, but they weren’t there. There was no reason to be; the finals were over; the people who could challenge them were all gone, either defeated or victorious. Atsuma slowly stepped forward, still trying to gauge Toya’s expression. He couldn’t understand what he was seeing. “Toya?”

“I heard you want to set up in Yokohama City.”

Atsuma stilled. “Yeah?”

Toya sent out his pokéball, releasing Lapras. “Only one Gym Leader per city. That’s how it is, Atsuma.” Before Atsuma could ask what Toya’s deal was, he said, “and it’s going to be me.”

He held his own pokéball, unsure suddenly if he wanted to go through with this. “Okay?” he said. “We could–”

“There’s no ‘we,’ Atsuma,” Toya said. Atsuma flinched. He hadn’t ever heard ice in Toya’s voice before. He didn’t like it. “Here’s the deal. We fight.” Atsuma’s words dried up in his throat. They had never called their battles ‘fights’ before. “We’ll see which one of us is better.”

Atsuma had lost to Toya time and again, and he’d never really felt too upset about it. Toya was amazing, skilled and calm and patient with his pokémon, easygoing and kind. Atsuma still hesitated. That was not the Toya he was seeing now. “Is this because we both beat the Elite Four?” he asked.

A duel was a duel, right? He bit his lip and sent out his pokémon. Heat Rotom gave a roar, trying to greet his old rival. Lapras turned its head aside. Rotom ducked down, not unlike Chione, at the brush-off.

“It’s about us becoming Gym Leaders,” Toya said, his face so neutral Atsuma couldn’t hope to read it. He shivered. “Whoever wins this duel will be the Gym Leader for Yokohama.”

Atsuma stilled.

“Lapras, Drill Run!”

Atsuma flinched.

He ordered Heat Rotom to attack back, paralyzing Lapras before knocking her unconscious with a couple quick Discharges. The victory felt wrong. Toya was obviously serious about this. It had always been Toya’s dream to return to their home city and start up his gym. He’d been working on this his whole life. It was everything to him. Atsuma… Atsuma wanted it, too. Both of them had the same dream.

Could only one of them reach it?

Toya was so smart. He’d already realized that there would be a problem with both of them setting up in Yokohama. He already knew one of them would be turned down. So instead of it being a first come, first serve thing, he made it more fair. The person who won this duel would achieve their dream.

Atsuma’s fists clenched. He and Toya both had a dream. Both of them had fought so hard for it. He knew what he had to do. Even if he didn’t like it.

* * *

“So,” Atsuma said. Toya felt the bottom drop out from his stomach. He hurried forward, heedless to the playful growls the two Ninetales were sharing.

“Atsuma.”

Atsuma stopped for a moment, just watching as Toya came near. He felt like a fool. What was he doing? Breaching a distance he himself had created. He stopped a foot from Atsuma, forcing himself to not reach out and touch the way he wanted to.

Atsuma looked to the side, chuckling even as he backed up a step. “Yeah. It’s me.” He scratched his cheek. The two Ninetales pranced behind them; Chione looked behind her and yipped, calling for Miho to chase her. His stomach felt like someone was stomping on it. “I… I saw you. Just now. So…”

Toya watched Atsuma take a deep breath. Why was he making Atsuma speak? Why was he making Atsuma try to rebuild the bridge that he himself had burned? “I… I’m glad you’re doing well,” Toya offered. It just made Atsuma chuckle nervously again.

“Yeah. Hey.” Atsuma straightened his shoulders. A small smile flitted across his face. “I heard you were the one to tell the city council there was room enough in Yokohama City for two. Thanks for that.”

Toya looked at the stylized fire kanji on his red overcoat and quickly looked away. “You won that duel,” he said. His tongue moved to speak the words, yet it felt numb. Atsuma jerked back. Finally it was Toya’s turn to chuckle. It felt empty. Hollow. “You think I didn’t notice? But what could I say? I was the one who threw our friendship away for a chance at glory. I put my aspirations first, and you – you put _me_ first.” He closed his eyes and turned away. “I took it, because you gave it to me, and because it was all I had left. But how could I keep it? It was never mine to begin with.”

“It was always yours!”

His breath hitched. He couldn’t look Atsuma in the eye again. “It wasn’t.”

“It was! Do you really think I cared about that? Don’t you know what I really wanted?”

Toya clenched his fists. What Atsuma had really wanted? He hadn’t even bothered to ask!

“Do you know why I stayed away from you? Why I never came to visit you or check on you, even after you let the council give me a gym?” He heard Atsuma step forward, breaching the distance between them. “It’s because I thought you didn’t want me around!”

He flinched. He couldn’t help but turn back to Atsuma then, unable to believe what he was hearing.

“I thought you’d figured it out, and you were too angry to want to see me. That you felt like I’d tricked you. I thought I’d ruined whatever I’d hoped to salvage. I’d been waiting for you to develop your presence as a gym leader, only to hear what you told the council just one month later. How could I face you after having hurt you like that?”

Toya flinched again. Those last words were his own. Atsuma should never have needed to speak them. “But you know what? That Charles guy – I told him, if he managed to beat you, he had a good shot at the championship. And he came to me just now and told me he’d beaten you. And you know what he said? He said I needed to stop insulting myself, because even you said you held me in high esteem.”

Atsuma breached the last few inches between them, one hand slapping his chest, right above the kanji for fire. “I needed to see you! To… to ask if…”

Atsuma pulled his lips back. Since he’d been a child, it was the sign that said he was battling tears. Toya felt his own eyes burn, too.

“I needed to know if you didn’t hate me anymore!”

Toya ducked his head, his shoulders rising to his neck. His nails pressed deep into the palms of his hands. “I never, _never_ hated you!” He shook his head. He could swear he felt the warmth of Atsuma’s hand hovering off his shoulder. He backed away from it. “I hated _myself!_ What I did – it was inexcusable!”

Hands wrapped around his neck and back, crushing him into a hard, warm chest. He stiffened. His arms wanted so badly to reach up and hug back.

“You weren’t wrong!” Atsuma said. His words were quiet, but the conviction sounded like thunder in his ears. “If there could only be one, then Toya, it should be you! I never would have made it this far without you. You are…” Atsuma nuzzled into Toya’s shoulder. “You’re…”

Behind them, Chione yipped again. Toya turned his head until he could see the two Ninetales. They’d finished playing, it seemed, and were taking a page from Atsuma’s book. He finally reached up and held Atsuma tight. “I should have chosen you.”

He gripped Atsuma’s overcoat between his fingers. Beneath were muscles, warm stretches of them that shifted as Atsuma tried to hold Toya even tighter. “I missed you.”

Toya should never have fought over something so petty. For years, Atsuma had avoided him in this big city. And they’d both been desperately, miserably lonely. “I missed you, too. So much.” He buried his face in Atsuma’s neck. The words he’d carried for so long finally slipped free. “I’m so sorry.”

Atsuma’s shoulders shook. Toya felt the burn in his eyes increase until he couldn’t contain it anymore. “Wanna see my gym?” Atsuma asked, his voice breaking twice.

Toya laughed and inhaled Atsuma’s scent. Of all the things that had changed about him, that scent was still the same. “Only if you’ll come see mine afterward.”

“All right.”

Miho and Chione came and nuzzled against them, forming a group hug. It made them break apart laughing, Atsuma reaching up with one hand to pet Miho on the head. Toya shared a smile with Chione as his Ninetales rubbed the top of her head beneath Miho’s jaw.

They finally pulled back from the embrace, but even then, even as they began to walk toward Atsuma’s gym on the other side of the city, their hands would not unlink.


End file.
